Dr Zarev 11,941 grafts. 1st procedure 8,321, 2nd procedure 3,620

[johnto]

Cant wait for my consultation in 2025.

 

[mtb]

On 2/1/2023 at 9:15 PM, MaximusEastwood said:

I wonder why Dr. Zarev says FUT is the "least effective" way to transplant hair?  Looking at his website here, it goes into low survival of grafts and "strand effect".  But kind of surprising given many other surgeons highly recommend FUT for high norwood to maximize lifetime grafts and reduce the chance of transection 

Oh man, the FUT vs. FUE debate. There are a million opinions on that. I'd say to do your own research and make the choice you feel most comfortable with. Pros and cons to both. As I referenced in an earlier post on this thread I felt more comfortable with FUE in light of the risks. If Dr. Zarev can consistently get 10,000 - 14,000 scalp grafts from FUE his services will always be in demand. 

 

On 2/2/2023 at 4:56 AM, hairman22 said:

I had consult with Pitella as well.

I will probably go with Zarev & just wait.

Both are brillant not really too much of a difference

I just prefer Zarev's methods very very detailed

It's great that there are multiple quality options in this day and age. 

[uu777]

On 2/1/2023 at 9:36 PM, mtb said:

I mean Eugenix and Pitella are the ones that come to mind if you’re a slick bald NW6 and don’t want FUT. Others on this forum might have helpful suggestions. My bro is going to Pitella in a few months. 

Thank you @mtb for the reply.

Did you have the surgery done in his new clinic/hospital? If so, was there an option to stay in his new place? 

Did he still do all the procedure by himself like the extraction and implantation and everything else in between like he did with Hugo or did some nurses or technicians fill in to do some work?

How much did he charge you per graft?

[mtb]

I had the procedure at his new clinic. It is very modern and nice. Built specifically as a hair transplant clinic. His hotel room onsite won't be ready for a few months apparently. 

He does everything himself in the procedure. He marks you everywhere, washes your head, takes a lots of pictures, cuts your hair to the appropriate length, administers anesthetic, administers PRP, makes every extraction, does every implantation. 

He has nurses that do the counting and sorting of grafts. Also his nurses load and hand him the implanter pens. He also has a nurse who does a blood draw for PRP.

I'm sure there are great techs in the industry but that wasn't a risk I wanted to take. I wouldn't know any of the techs, how long they had worked there, how good they were, etc. Felt more comfortable having Dr. Zarev do everything. I paid a lot more than a place that has techs do everything but for me it made sense. I only had one shot at this as a super high Norwood. 

[uu777]

21 minutes ago, mtb said:

I had the procedure at his new clinic. It is very modern and nice. Built specifically as a hair transplant clinic. His hotel room onsite won't be ready for a few months apparently. 

He does everything himself in the procedure. He marks you everywhere, washes your head, takes a lots of pictures, cuts your hair to the appropriate length, administers anesthetic, administers PRP, makes every extraction, does every implantation. 

He has nurses that do the counting and sorting of grafts. Also his nurses load and hand him the implanter pens. He also has a nurse who does a blood draw for PRP.

I'm sure there are great techs in the industry but that wasn't a risk I wanted to take. I wouldn't know any of the techs, how long they had worked there, how good they were, etc. Felt more comfortable having Dr. Zarev do everything. I paid a lot more than a place that has techs do everything but for me it made sense. I only had one shot at this as a super high Norwood. 

@mtbThanks for the confirmation. @HugoXmentioned that when he had his procedure, it was still in the old clinic/hospital and that there might be an option to stay in the new place. Its good to know that he moved to the new place already and that there will be a hotel or option to stay in the new place. Im also glad that he still does every step of the procedure. You mentioned earlier that he is looking into training new doctors with his machine, that probably will open up more schedule and also have a lower price option? I know Dr. Pitella has that lower price option when he does not do all the procedure himself. Me personally, I hope Dr. Z still does all the procedure when I get a chance to have the HT. Like you said, you only had one shot, or one opportunity to seize the... oops I'm already qouting Em 😆

Did he still charge 5 euro per graft? Since you had the consultation two years ago, I was wondering if you still got the old price which is 4 Euro per graft like Hugo got? If so, did he honor the old price even if you had the surgery 2 years after the consultation? 

[mtb]

Yeah his rooms will be done by the time you go for procedure. Also, there are some nice little hotels within walking distance as well. No idea if there will be a cheaper option in the future. I think the only way that happens is if there is massive competition in the market and at this point there are only a couple other clinics that can do high norwood FUE only. I was quoted at 4 euro per graft and he honored that. 

Em is a norwood 1 so I think he's going to be okay for many years. ha. 

 

[uu777]

2 hours ago, mtb said:

Yeah his rooms will be done by the time you go for procedure. Also, there are some nice little hotels within walking distance as well. No idea if there will be a cheaper option in the future. I think the only way that happens is if there is massive competition in the market and at this point there are only a couple other clinics that can do high norwood FUE only. I was quoted at 4 euro per graft and he honored that. 

Em is a norwood 1 so I think he's going to be okay for many years. ha. 

 

Thank you for the reply @mtb, that's great that you still got his old pricing. I wouldn't be surprised if he honors that price even if he does the surgery two years after consultation. As what @HugoXmentioned in his thread that Dr. Z did not even charge him the extra 1k grafts that he was able to extract from him. That just shows he's an honorable  doctor. I'm also glad that there's a price protection where you get charged the rate that was advertised on the day of your consultation. The way things are right now, he might increase his price in the future due to the law of supply and demand plus the option to stay in his clinic/hospital. 

I will be following your thread @mtband hoping for your abundant hair growth in the future. Keep us updated 🙂

[uu777]

On 2/1/2023 at 9:36 PM, mtb said:

I mean Eugenix and Pitella are the ones that come to mind if you’re a slick bald NW6 and don’t want FUT. Others on this forum might have helpful suggestions. My bro is going to Pitella in a few months. 

It would be interesting to compare your result by Dr. Z and your brother's by Dr. P. They are the best doctors for high NW and of course Eugenix as well. 

Is he on this forum? Is he planning to post his result once he gets his procedure done by Dr. P?

[Mohammad Hussen]

I am not able to book an consultation on his website, I am willing to wait until 2026, do you have any idea how I can get into contact with him?

[Melvin- Admin]

Would love to see some post-op pics.

[Wally West]

Thanks so much for sharing!

My procedure is scheduled with Dr Zarev for early April. I have very similar hair/skin colour and characteristics to @mtbso this is so great to see!

[A_4_Archan]

I still keep on wondering how can dr zarev extract so many grafts evrytime and still the donor looks fit...is he having some magic wand ...ths is really difficult to understand ..cause any technique may be it..the donor area would be minus the extracted grafts...

Looking at mtb's pics no surgeon would say he can extract more thn 10k grafts jst frm scalp...super surprising...

Edited February 6, 2023 by Archan

[asterix0]

8 hours ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

Would love to see some post-op pics.

He posted the pics, look on the first page on Jan 30th.

Edited February 7, 2023 by asterix0

[asterix0]

3 hours ago, Archan said:

I still keep on wondering how can dr zarev extract so many grafts evrytime and still the donor looks fit...is he having some magic wand ...ths is really difficult to understand ..cause any technique may be it..the donor area would be minus the extracted grafts...

Looking at mtb's pics no surgeon would say he can extract more thn 10k grafts jst frm scalp...super surprising...

It is a combination of technique and concentration, tools used, and extreme attention to detail to make sure the donor extraction is completely homogenous. 

[A_4_Archan]

3 hours ago, asterix0 said:

It is a combination of technique and concentration, tools used, and extreme attention to detail to make sure the donor extraction is completely homogenous. 

Yeh i cn understand tht ..bt still thr are many elite surgeons who give so much of attention to detail and are experienced enough and produced excellent results...and i guess no one would say tht they can extract so many grafts in this case....and whtevr the technique is at the end ur donor is left with so many grafts taken out of tht...

I am not challenging or doubting the doctor ..actually i love his work and kin to have some knowledge about this thng ..tht hw is ths possible ..😊

[Melvin- Admin]

On 1/30/2023 at 6:31 AM, mtb said:

Hello everyone. Back in my home country now after my trip to see Dr. Zarev. All-in-all the experience was quite pleasant (of course, final result will tell how successful). I had 8,321 grafts in my procedure. I'm meant to go back in October for another ~2,000 grafts for added density.

I had the procedure on 16 and 17th of January. They were absolute marathon days. Dr. Zarev and his nurses/techs are very hard working. I was asked to come in the Saturday before for bloodwork and to talk about the general plan of the procedure. The Monday I showed up at 8 am and we talked further about expectations, hairline (got him to lower it about 1 cm), the surgical plan, and then did more measurements and markings. You leave those meetings with confidence in Dr. Zarev and abilities. 

The surgery began at about 11am and I have to say it was doozy. 6 straight hours of lying perfectly still while he extracted each graft one by one. The only painful part was the administration of the local anesthetic. After that it was just a challenge to lie perfectly still for two 3 hours stretches, one on my stomach and one on my left side. We took a 1.5 hour breaks for his nurses to sort the grafts. Then we went in for another 6 hours for the implantation. We didn't leave his office until 1:30am. All of the extractions that day were taken from the right side of my scalp and placed into the back half of the recipient area.

The second day we started late so everyone could get some sleep. The surgery started at 11am again and we did not finish this surgical day until 3am. The extractions were taken from the left side of my donor area and placed into the front and mid scalp. 

The first couple nights I had to be careful when sleeping or there would be some slight pain. But overall, the whole things was pretty painless. I swelled up ALOT in my face. One eye closed and the second closed after the first eye had opened back up. I was staying with a friend in Bulgaria who helped with that part. That amount of swelling probably isn't common. And really, if you're just leaving a hotel to go to the airport it's not that big of a deal. 

I did go back at the 7 day mark for final inspection and he said that I was healing perfectly. He told me to continue my meds til they were gone and to then begin his min/fin topical solution. I was also given the fabled yellow screen and told to send him pictures on a monthly basis. There were shampoos he recommended and a supplement gave me to start taking. 

Overall I'm happy with things. I came from over a decade of a hair system and was used to a super low and unnaturally aggressive hairline. I was worried when he had it drawn higher initially. As I mentioned he did lower it some. He also said that we could lower it further in the second procedure. As time goes on I'm getting used to the higher, more age appropriate hairline, so I may choose to use all of the grafts of the second procedure in my existing recipient area for density. After the second procedure he reckons I should have a final 2,000 grafts in reserve for future balding. He says my parietal humps will likely be gone in the next 5 years.  

Now to sit in dread as my hair that I have been enjoying the last two weeks dies off and begins to grow anew. The ugly duckling phase....

Work looks very clean. Your donor looks good, looks like you have finer hair than @HugoX but I’m eager to see how it turns out. Happy growing 👏🏼

[mtb]

Here are some subpar photos taken at 20 days from the procedure. I have shock loss in the donor area which the doctor said is very common. He said it may take two to four months to recover. Also, my recipient hair hasn’t fallen out yet. It continues to grow. I will take my 1 month phots with the yellow background and flash next week for the doctor. I‘ll post them here as well. 

[Big Rome]

20 minutes ago, mtb said:

Here are some subpar photos taken at 20 days from the procedure. I have shock loss in the donor area which the doctor said is very common. He said it may take two to four months to recover. Also, my recipient hair hasn’t fallen out yet. It continues to grow. I will take my 1 month phots with the yellow background and flash next week for the doctor. I‘ll post them here as well. 

looks incredible man 

[shiba1985]

Looks A+ , very good.

[HugoX]

13 hours ago, mtb said:

Here are some subpar photos taken at 20 days from the procedure. I have shock loss in the donor area which the doctor said is very common. He said it may take two to four months to recover. Also, my recipient hair hasn’t fallen out yet. It continues to grow. I will take my 1 month phots with the yellow background and flash next week for the doctor. I‘ll post them here as well. 

Getting flash backs to my first weeks, recipient look great. And honestly can't see the chock loss but over 8k graft removed and placed, that is a big trauma for the whole area/head so healing will take time 🙂. 

This was me after 10 days I think, looks similar 😁

 

Edited February 8, 2023 by HugoX

[A_4_Archan]

Yeh considering the number of grafts taken out and the trauma to the scalp by tht...this isnt too much of shock loss..donor looking really good at jst 20 days post op

[shiba1985]

Does he give you a follicular break down? Like how many triples or quadruples etc? 
most of them look to be 1 or 2 FU grafts. 
 

is he splitting them in the scalp or outside ?

[Rafael Manelli]

I respect how detailed his examination was in your consultation. The result looks promising.

do you have any photos of how you looked with the hair system?

[mtb]

2 hours ago, Archan said:

Yeh considering the number of grafts taken out and the trauma to the scalp by tht...this isnt too much of shock loss..donor looking really good at jst 20 days post op

Maybe my camera angles weren't great. More to come on my 1-month photos next week.

 

55 minutes ago, shiba1985 said:

Does he give you a follicular break down? Like how many triples or quadruples etc? 
most of them look to be 1 or 2 FU grafts. 
 

is he splitting them in the scalp or outside ?

He may have the FU break down. I didn't ask him for them. As far as splitting in the scalp or not I have no idea. 

 

28 minutes ago, Rafael Manelli said:

I respect how detailed his examination was in your consultation. The result looks promising.

do you have any photos of how you looked with the hair system?

 

Thanks for the pics @HugoX. Makes me feel a little more normal about the shock loss. 

[A_4_Archan]

Yeh will wait for an update..happy growing ...